In some cultures, the number 16 represents wholeness, a perfect measure.

But in Leafs Nation, the guy who wears it has been in the midst of a divisive summer contract debate. As of Thursday, that talk will ramp up considerably as Toronto opens training camp without leading scorer Mitch Marner.

“We talk to Mitch, we want him here, he’s a good part of our group, we want him in the mix,” recited Morgan Rielly at the Leafs and Legends golf tournament in Milton on Wednesday. “But there’s only so much you can do as a player. You have to get ready, worry about your own game.”

In Rielly’s case, that’s finding chemistry with a new-look defence once medicals are out of the way and a small army of incumbents, free agents, Marlies, Newfoundland Growlers, juniors and draft picks board a plane Thursday afternoon for a week of workouts in St. John’s.

For coach Mike Babcock, beginning what many detractors think is his final year here barring a long playoff run, it starts with determining an October replacement for Marner on John Tavares’s right side and the injured Zach Hyman on the left.

Babcock was slated to speak at length Thursday morning at the Ford Performance Centre (FPC) where testing will be done, but gave a Marner snippet to a local TV station on the greens.

“There’s no sense being concerned, you’re just optimistic it will get done,” said Babcock, almost his same quote from William Nylander’s two-month impasse last year. “I leave the business side of that to (general manager Kyle Dubas). I’m not really involved in that. We’re just looking forward to having Mitch around.”

Dubas has had little in the way of positive Marner updates in a series of 1-on-1s with the media the past week. But it seems reaching the Marner camp’s $11-million US bar that Auston Matthews and Tavares are at will require more creativity on his part or some bending by the agents.

Meanwhile, an estimated 50 players will be heading to St. John’s. The final roster will be released Thursday morning.

Joining the Leafs from off-season trades are key defencemen Tyson Barrie and Cody Ceci, with big Ben Harpur leading a number of 5-6-7 candidates. They replace Jake Gardiner, Ron Hainsey Nikita Zaitsev. Chatty Nazem Kadri is gone, along with Connor Brown, with Alexander Kerfoot and warhorse Jason Spezza looking to claim the three and four centre spots.

New and old Leafs have become friends through August and September summer skates at FPC.

“It’s been good, but you have to wait until camp until it really gets going and start playing for real,” alternate captain Rielly said. “I’ve known Tyson and Ceci for awhile. They’re both great players and make our back end better.

“There has been a lot of change for sure. It has been strange that way, guys who were here a long time, Jake and Naz and others. But it’s part of the business, it happens every year.”